Bainbridge to consider 'all gender' bathroom sign ordinance

The ordinance would require all single-occupant restrooms to remove gender-specific labeling.

Author:
Nathan Pilling, KItsap Sun

Published:
7:55 AM PST February 9, 2018

Updated:
7:55 AM PST February 9, 2018

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND – A Bainbridge city councilman is proposing a new ordinance that would require single-occupant restrooms on the island to be designated as open to all genders.

Councilman Matthew Tirman said the ordinance would mean greater restroom access for the LGBTQ community, calling the code changes a matter of “basic equity and fairness” for transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals.

The new codes would require governments, businesses, schools and other public places to change any existing or future single-occupant restroom facilities to be “designated for use by any person, regardless of sex or gender identity,” a draft of the ordinance states. If approved, businesses and agencies with single-occupant restrooms restricting use to a single gender would be required to change their signage within 180 days or face civil penalties.

Under the codes, signs would have to indicate single-occupant restrooms as not being restricted to a single gender. Signs could be changed to label a facility as “washroom” or “restroom” or could say “all-gender restroom,” “gender-neutral restroom” or “unisex,” the draft ordinance states.

Tirman, the parent of an transgender child, said the changes in signage would be simple but meaningful moves.

“Being very involved with the trans and LGBTQ community, having a transgender child, I can’t tell you the anxiety that especially these transgender teens and adults feel when they’re out in public when they have to make this choice,” he said. “This is going one step further to help that situation.”

While the ordinance would not apply to “multi-stall” restroom signs, it includes a separate, broader provision that says that, “An individual shall have the right to use whichever public restroom, locker room, or public facility best conforms to their chosen gender identity and expression.”

The Bainbridge ordinance would follow rules codified in 2015 by the state’s Human Rights Commission, which administers and enforces Washington’s discrimination laws, stating that individuals must be allowed to use restrooms consistent with their gender expression or identity.

Mayor Kol Medina said the Bainbridge codes would affirm the state codes locally and would also force the signage changes.

“There will be a little cost to that, to businesses and facilities that will have to change their signs, but I feel like it’s worth the cost,” he said in support of the proposal.

"I think it is a matter of fairness and equality and basic good public policy that protects the health and wellness of our citizens," said Councilman Michael Scott.

The new ordinance would apply to restroom facilities owned by all governmental jurisdictions on the island – including the city, the school district, the park district, the fire department – as well as by “places of public accommodation” – including parks, hotels, restaurants, theaters and other businesses.

“I think this is an important step for our community,” Tirman said. “I think we talk a very big game when it comes to human rights, the rights of members of our community who are being disenfranchised and who do face some of the highest rates of harassment, violence and discrimination. This is one small step we can take, I hope, to maybe curbing or ending some of that. It’s very personal for me, but I feel it’s good public policy and the right thing to do.”

The ordinance is modeled off a similar one enacted by the city of Seattle in 2015, as well as by the cities of Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., Tirman said.

The ordinance will come up for a first round of consideration at the Feb. 13 Bainbridge Island City Council meeting.